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Amir Yakoub al-Amir Mahmoud
| place_of_birth = Omdurman, Sudan | date_of_death = | place_of_death = | detained_at = Guantanamo | id_number = 720 | group = | alias = *Yakoub Mohammed *Yaqoub Al Amir *Amir Yacoub al-Amir | charge = No charge (held in extrajudicial detention) | penalty = | status = Repatriated on May 1, 2008 | occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} Yakoub Mohammed is a citizen of Sudan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 720. The Department of Defense reports he was born on May 9, 1971, in Omdurman, Sudan. According to historian Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, Yacoub Al-Amir was captured in Pakistan, had never traveled to Afghanistan, had no commitment to Jihad, and testified at his Combatant Status Review Tribunal: "I disagree with al-Qaeda on everything." Worthington wrote that he was kidnapped from a taxi in Peshawar, in March 2002, 100 kilometres from the Afghan border. The New York Times reports he was captured near the Pakistan-Afghan border. Clive Stafford Smith, one of his lawyers, compared Yacoub Al Amir's extrajudicial detention by the Americans to his great-great-grandfather's detention by the British in the 19th Century. His great-great-grandfather, Al Amir Mahmoud wad Ahmed, was a cousin of the second-in-command of the Sudanese foreces in the late 19th Century Battle of Khartoum. According to Stafford Smith Al Amir Ahmed was "rendered" to Egypt, and held in extrajudicial detention under abusive conditions similar to those Yacoub Al Amir experienced in Guantanamo. In 2007 Stafford Smith said Yaboub Al Amir was being held in solitary confinement in Camp 6. Background The allegations against Yakoub contain two different, incompatible accounts of his capture. Yakoub acknowledged fighting in Afghanistan, in 1991, to fight against Afghanistan's Soviet occupiers. He acknowledged traveling to Pakistan in February 2002, with the thought that he would cross into Afghanistan. He testified that, when he arrived in Pakistan, and learned more about the situation in Afghanistan, he realized that Afghanistan didn't need his help. One of the accounts of his capture was that he and three other Arabs donned burqas, the all-encompassing women's garment, and were captured at the border. The other account was that he was arrested in Peshawar. Yakoub testified he was captured in Peshawar, during a routine sweep looking for Arabs. Combatant Status Review Al Amir Mahmoud was among the 60% of prisoners who participated in the tribunal hearings.OARDEC, Index to Transcripts of Detainee Testimony and Documents Submitted by Detainees at Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo Between July 2004 and March 2005, September 4, 2007 A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee. The memo for his hearing lists the following allegations: On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a seven page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. First annual Administrative Review Board A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Mohammed Yakoub's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 29 June 2005. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention. The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Second annual Administrative Review Board A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Mohammed Yakoub's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 14 April 2006. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention. The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Repatriation In 2007, when Yacoub al-Amir was in Camp 6, Clive Stafford Smith wrote: A Sudanese captive identified as '"Yacoub al-Amir"''', two other Sudanese, a Moroccan, and five Afghan captives were repatriated to the custody of their home countries on May 1, 2008. mirror mirror The identity of the five Afghan repatriates was not made public. The other two Sudanese men were Sami Al Hajj and Walid Ali. mirror The Moroccan captive was Saïd Boujaâdia. Amnesty International reports that the nine repatriates were the first captives to be repatriated in 2008. The three men gave a press conference in Sudan, upon their arrival. Yacoub and Walid Ali reported they were hooded, and shackled into their seats, during the flight home. References External links * The Guantánamo Files: Website Extras (10) – Seized in Pakistan (Part Two) Andy Worthington * Who are the prisoners released from Guantánamo with Sami al-Haj? Andy Worthington Category:Sudanese extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:Living people Category:1971 births Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Category:Sudanese people Category:People from Omdurman